Green, yellow and grey boxes continue to rule and divide families and friends. Wordle arrived. Wordle conquered minds. Worlde got sold to The New York Times. But there are wheels within wheels and somehow that may end up making the simple word game slightly complicated.
After the American newspaper announced the purchase of the web-based game for a “low seven figure sum” there has been enough skepticism about its future. In simple words: Will it remain free? According to the new owners, Wordle will “initially” remain free to current and new users. So the word “initially” is important but one has to give NYT credit because it lets non-subscribers play some of its other games and crosswords for free. “Our number one objective is to continue what makes this game so special — I think in that regard we are more like stewards at the beginning. I think we have a good sense of why it’s so popular and we’re committed to maintaining that game design,” NYT’s general manager of games, Jonathan Knight has said.
A complication
A couple of days after the purchase, a Twitter account posted what may reduce the fun element of the game. It is possible (and we have tried it) to save the simple web-based game on to your computer, so that you can play it offline. We won’t get into the steps but the code, written in Javascript, appears as plain text for those who know how to access it.
Technically, after saving the game on your computer, you should be able to play it for years. Though that may sound like too much work — saving the game and then get the answers out of the file — but there will always be a crowd who is willing to go that extra mile.
We even tried changing the date manually on a Windows-powered PC to go back to earlier puzzles. It works.
What’s everyone worried about?
The reason why people are playing Wordle day after day is simple: It requires five-10 minutes of your time and you may not even come back to play it the next day. There’s no sign-up process or any ad collection. With NYT coming into the picture, people are worried that there could be a sign up process which will lead to ads being plastered.
But one has to remember that NYT takes games seriously and the team has done a brilliant job with something like Spelling Bee and Vertex. Perhaps the company’s strategy is to simply have people spend more time with the Times. It could be something as simple as driving more users to the newspaper’s website or app. It’s not about turning in a quick profit.
“I’ve long admired The Times’s approach to the quality of their games and the respect with which they treat their players. Their values are aligned with mine on these matters and I’m thrilled that they will be stewards of the game moving forward,” the game’s crator Josh Wardle said in a press release announcing the sale.
Coming back to the complication, it’s Twitter accounts giving away clues and ways to save the puzzle offline that is taking the fun out of Wordle. The beauty of Wordle is that no conditions are imposed on anyone who wants to play the game. It seems NYT is going to keep it that way but first, the company has to tackle detractors.
MI6 chief Richard Moore has tweeted that he is “thinking” of unfollowing Twitter accounts guilty of giving away the day’s answer. Perhaps Worlde fans should take a similar step.
